We’ve been doing some research brewing of Bavarian Weiss beers lately and wanted to better understand variations in flavor due to different types of fermenters. We also wanted to try out a recent addition to the tool chest, an open Yorkshire square fermenter. Normally we employ closed fermentation in our research fermenters, and though I’ve used open fermenters before in microbreweries, I’ve never had a SQUARE.
This historic type of fermentation process aids in dissipating off and sulphur flavors, and results in a speedy fermentation and delicate ester profile. Comments on the process from a few commercial brewers can be found here.
Visually stunning, the six-inch heady krausen gently wiggles and wobbles during the vigorous primary fermentation. The pilot brewery is filled with delicate aromas. On day two we’ve cropped the krausen and now have a beautiful creamy bubblebath-like head that would make Laurence Welk jealous. We’ll post how delicious it is in a few weeks.
You may recognize the tank. It’s been repurposed since its past use with the addition of a cooling coil.